U administrators say they will make cuts to academic departments to balance the budget, while they are simultaneously creating others.
During May, the Academic Senate and Board of Trustees approved three new majors for fall, 2002. At the same time, lawmakers have announced that in June they will need to cut another $138 million from the state budget.
Administrators admit the U’s portion of the cut could be as much as $9 million?or possibly more. During the past four months, deans, department heads and program directors have trimmed $11 million from their budgets to compensate for the sliding tax revenue shortfall in the sate.
But even with the second round of budget cuts looming overhead, U officials are creating new degrees out of what seems to be thin air.
“The programs we are approving don’t cost us additional money to run,” explained U President Bernie Machen after the Academic Senate meeting earlier this month. “They’re programs that we need and will expand our university.”
The degrees approved include a distance-based doctorate degree in nursing, an international studies major and minor and a graduate certificate in demography.
The state Board of Regents warned universities and colleges to shy away from creating new programs in its April meeting.
Commissioner of Higher Education Cecelia Foxley said Regents’ caution comes from additional costs created by starting programs.
“If programs are created without the need for additional funds, there shouldn’t be a problem,” Foxley said in a previous interview.
John Francis, associate vice president for undergraduate studies said the international studies major and minor won’t cost the U a dime.
“It’s a conglomerate degree,” he said. Students who select this course of study will take classes from the College of Humanities, the College of Social and Behavioral Science as well as the College of Business.
The courses already exist and the teachers are already hired, Francis said. “There will not be any additional costs for the U.”
The distance-based doctorate degree in nursing will be funded completely by a federal grant and tuition, said Kathi Mooney, nursing professor.
Mooney, who drafted the proposal to create the new degree, said, “This is a great opportunity for the U to create a tremendous program in such lean times.”
The graduate certificate in demography will not burden the U financially because the courses taken for the degree are already offered as part of a master’s degree in demography.
With enrollment figures growing each semester, U Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dave Pershing said higher education has a record number of sales (meaning students) at a time when the client (the state) is not paying its bill (enrollment growth).
“I don’t think we should stop moving the U forward academically just because the state is struggling financially,” Pershing said.